Show Me How

Seeding, sodding, repairing a lawn, these are the bane of homeowners everywhere. The choices can be confusing, the methods costly. Should I grow a new lawn by seeding with all the hard work involved and hope it “takes,” or should I dip into the kid’s college fund and sod the lawn? Or do I simply let the weeds grow up and hope the city doesn’t come down on me?

There is a better method of building a new lawn that relies on a simple, affordable tool: the ProPlugger 5-in-1. This innovative turf tool will take the headache out of lawn care so you can spend more time enjoying the summer while saving money.

The Proplugger 5-in-1 takes advantage of the spreading type sod turf that is already in your lawn, warm season grasses such as Zoysia, Saint Augustine and Bermuda. Other spreading  grasses include Kentucky Bluegrass, Creeping Red Fescue, Bahiagrass and Buffalo Grass.

These types of sod turf have underground root systems called rhizomes and above ground stolons  (think strawberries) that allows the turf to naturally fill in bare spaces in your yard.

With the Proplugger 5-in-1 you can efficiently remove plugs of healthy spreading sod turf grass from one section of a yard, and “plug it” where it is needed.

Here is how it works (be sure to check out the video, you’ve got to see it to believe it!).

Locate a section of healthy, spreading turf grass as mentioned above. Grab your ProPlugger 5-in-1 and determine the depth you wish to pull the plug. The Proplugger gives you the option of pulling plugs from a depth of 2” or 4” by slipping one of the adapter plates into the bottom of the tool. With no plate attached the plug will pull from a depth of 6 inches.

Now choose the bare spot in your lawn that needs to be repaired. It isn’t necessary to remove weeds from this area, but it will help. This can be done either by pulling the weeds out roots and all, or applying a weed killer (e.g.,  Roundup or Spectracide).*

There is no need to wait for the weeds to die before you start plugging. So here we go!

Water the area well a day or two before you start plugging. Identify a good section of sod turf, or what we’ll call the “donor” section. This is where you’re getting the healthy plugs of a spreading type grass to repair your lawn.

Steps to Using the ProPlugger – Transplanting Sod Turf

1. Slide the appropriate adapter plate onto the bottom of the tool and snug it up as far as it will go.
2. Push the tool into the ground by applying pressure with your foot on the peg.
3. When the tool/adapter plate bottoms out against the ground, give it a little twist.
4. Congratulations, you’ve got a plug-- it is really that easy!
5. Repeat until you’ve filled the plugger (you can pull about 500 plugs per hour if you work at a steady pace, no stopping for lemonade!).
6. Turn the plugger upside down and empty out the plugs of good sod turf.
7. Now go over to the bare spot and start removing soil with the ProPlugger. Plan on spacing the plugs 4-6 inches apart or further.
8. Press the donor plugs into these holes.
9. Go back to the donor area and fill the holes with the pre-measured Coco Peat disc(s) also available from ProPlugger. You can also fill it with rich compost or topsoil.

Cutting & Planting Plugs From Purchased Sod Turf

Similarly, you can pull plugs with the ProPlugger from sod turf you’ve purchased via the Internet or elsewhere.

Here’s how. Simply lay the section of sod upside down (soil facing upward) on a level surface of your lawn. Place the 2” adapter plate on the ProPlugger.  Start from one corner of the sod square, cutting and pulling plugs as you move from one end of the sod to the other (like a cookie cutter).  Repeat until you’ve removed all of the plugs from the purchased sod.

Plant the plugs in the bare spots of your lawn, following the directions above with only one exception. With these sod plugs, you’ll need to lightly fill the planting holes with potting soil before you press your plug into place. This organic material will help the plug jump-start its growing.

Tips for Successful Sod Turf Establishment

• Water is the key to plugging. Water both the donor area and transferred plugs daily for the first 10-days to 2 weeks. Both areas will experience transplant shock and watering will help minimize the recovery time.
• Apply a lawn fertilizer appropriate for the sod turf type you’re working with.

*Tips for Applying a Weed Killer

• Apply it on a warm (above 60 degrees) day.
• Apply when the winds are calm.
• Make sure there is no rain in the immediate forecast.
• Keep it off any plants you don’t want to lose, including your good sod turf.
• If you get spray on your desired plants, quickly rinse it off.

Be sure to check out the helpful videos and information on our website, including other uses for the ProPlugger including:

1. Bulb planter
2. Bedding planter
3. Weeding tool
4. Border planter

General description of Wild Onions

There are over 750 varieties of onions, many of which grow in the wild, especially in temperate climates in the northern hemisphere. While some people treasure the wild onion as part of their rustic, natural landscape, most of us think of it as a weed and look for ways to eliminate it.

Wild Onions vs Wild Garlic

Wild onion and wild garlic are perennials which means they keep coming back...year after year. They are similar in appearance and can often be confused with one another. Both have leafless stems (Scapes) that grow from underground bulbs, however, the stems of wild onion are somewhat flat in shape, whereas wild garlic have more rounded, hollow stems. The bulbs of wild garlic also have a thin membrane covering them, while the bulbs of wild onion do not.

Using Herbicides to Kill Wild Onions

Wild onion and garlic stems have a protective waxy coating making traditional chemical control difficult. Even the use of Glysophate (RoundUp™) produces only marginal results.

Improved results have been observed when a small length of the waxy outer coating on the plant stems have been scraped away prior to application. This practice allows the chemical to breach the protective outer waxy layer, improving the chances of killing the entire plant, including the bulbs and roots.

How to Kill Wild Onions and Wild Garlic (Birth of the ProPlugger)

The first ProPlugger was actually born out of a desperate attempt to control wild onions. We sprayed herbicides, applied pre-emergents and tried digging them out using various weeding tools. The herbicide and pre-emergent was fairly ineffective and digging each out by hand was time consuming and back breaking.

In desperation, we asked a 30-year landscape veteran if he knew a way to eliminate wild onions and garlic, hoping for some secret weapon in his arsenal of landscape expertise.

"Absolutely!" he replied. "Got a shovel?". The ProPlugger was born a year later.

Kill Wild Onions & Wild Garlic Using the ProPlugger

One of the best ways to get rid of wild onions or wild garlic is to remove the entire plant using the new 5-IN-1 Landscape Plugger. The ProPlugger is simple to operate: position the plugger over the onion or garlic stems, step down firmly on the foot pegs, give a slight twist to the handles and pull up. The ProPlugger can pull plugs as deep as 6", improving the chances of getting the entire weed...stem, bulb, roots and all.

After you pull the plug, pouring or spraying a little common household white vinegar down in the hole can help take care of any remaining small fragments of bulb or root. 

See how easy the ProPlugger is to use

Click for more information on wild onions and wild garlic

Planting Lawn Grass Plugs with a Plugging Tool

There are many ways to build a beautiful lawn. The most popular methods include seeding, sodding, sprigging and plugging. While all of these methods can work, some are more difficult and/or more expensive than others. Plugging, if done correctly, can allow you to build a beautiful lawn without the high cost of sodding, the specialized equipment required for sprigging or the hard work of seeding from scratch. It takes some patience, but the payoff can be well worth the wait.

How to Cut Plugs from Sod Pieces:

There are several ways to buy your lawn grass plugs:

1. Sod squares purchased over the internet
3. Pieces of sod purchased from a local sod farm or garden center
5. Lawn plugs grown in nurseries (supplied in trays or flats)

Internet Sod

Purchasing sod plugs over the internet, while certainly convenient, isn't without its' pitfalls. The pieces of sod from which the plugs are to be cut may arrive in less than fresh condition (right). The sod pieces are typically scored on the back side to show where they are to be cut, usually in 1"x1" square plugs.

These sod plug providers will suggest that you cut these by hand, using garden shears (right), or with a small one-at-a-time plugger which can be purchased separately.

Take heart! There's a much easier way to cut your sod plugs (see video at bottom of page)

Local Sod

Sod purchased from local or regional sod farms tends to arrive in much better shape. In many cases you can pick up the sod yourself or have the sod delivered within a day or two of the sod being harvested. This fresher condition (left) can have a dramatic impact on the success of your plugging project.

Nursery Plugs

When you purchase sod which has been harvested, as in the two examples above, and then go on to cut them into small 1" squares, you induce significant transplant shock into the lawn plug. With adequate irrigation of the plugs after they've been planted, you can help the grass plugs overcome this shock.

An advantage to using plugs grown in trays in a nursery is there is much less transplant shock because the root system remains intact to a large extent (right). This allows the plug to start growing and spreading faster as it doesn't require the time to recover from transplant shock.

Digging the Planting Holes

Regardless of the type of plugs you choose, there are several ways to create the planting holes. These methods can be broken down into three broad categories:

• Relatively easy
• Fairly difficult
• Downright hard

The most difficult way to dig planting holes is to use a hand shovel (right) and dig individual holes for each plug.  A slightly less difficult method is to dig long trenches using a garden hoe, setting the plugs in place, then filling between each plug with soil.

Much less difficult but still a bit hard on the back is the soil auger method in which you attach what amounts to a long drill bit to an electric drill motor and "drill" the holes out for the plugs. These augers (left) can help speed up the process and are available at many retailers.

Fortunately, now there is a much easier and less back breaking way to cut your plugs AND dig the holes for transplanting.

A Better Way

With our new 5-IN-1 Landscape Plugger, you can cut your sod plugs from pieces of sod and create the planting holes in a short amount of time. Even better, you can do it from a standing position. With the ProPlugger you can pull over 500 plugs per hour and all will be a perfectly round 1.6" diameter. This means that the plugs that you cut will fit perfectly into the holes that you dig for a snug fit. All with NO BENDING OVER.

Cutting & Planting Lawn Plugs Using the ProPlugger!

We all love a lush, green lawn and while there are many varieties of grasses to choose from, there are only four common methods of establishing or repairing a lawn.

1. Sodding
2. Seeding
3. Sprigging
4. Plugging

We'll briefly cover the basic steps involved in sodding in this posting.

Understanding Your Soil's pH

Before you begin building your dream lawn, it is critical to understand how important soil health is to the success of your lawn. With a general understanding of the role that organic matter and soil pH plays in the overall health of your top soil, you'll be able to develop a strategy for amending your soil (if needed) and prevent a lot of wasted time, energy and money.

Sodding

Establishing a lawn by Sodding produces a near instant green lawn. For the DIYer it can require some hard physical labor, but the process is relatively simple, requires just a few basic tools and most reasonably sized projects can be completed in a weekend. The price of a sodded lawn can be an issue for many home owners. For more on costs, SODDING.COM discusses the cost of sod

The Right Tools

1. A sharp knife and/or a sharp edged masonry trowel to cut sod with.
2. A lawn roller to prepare your soil and to aid in sod compaction.
3. A wheel-barrow to help transport sod.
4. Pieces of plywood and/or boards to kneel and walk on.
5. A rake to finish sections of soil when disturbed.
6. Watering hose and water to moisten the soil surface and sod when planting.
7. Potting soil to fill any gaps that exist between the pieces of sod.

Soil preparation

If you need to remove any areas of old lawn, renting a sod cutter for $75 to $100 a day, allows you to slice off old grass and weeds at the roots. You may want to kill-off the old lawn with a broad-spectrum herbicide such as RoundUp or glyphosate first. Once the old grass and weeds are dead, remove them using a sod cutter or till them into the soil.

This is a great time to make any needed changes to the slope and drainage of your yard. Any low spots can be filled, and high spots leveled off. Some older lawns can have 4-6 inches of topsoil and in these cases, it is best to remove this topsoil before filling low areas, or removing high spots, then replacing the topsoil.

Once you have achieved the desired slope and drainage areas, you're ready for the finishing touches in the preparation stage. You'll want to make sure that the soil surface you are placing sod over is raked smooth and free of any debris that could interfere with the sod making good contact with the soil.

Laying Sod

Insure that your sod is fresh by having it delivered as soon after it is harvested as possible. Make sure that you're ready to start laying following delivery.

Lightly water each area of soil so the ground is not dry, but not dripping wet either. Starting along the longest straight edge, lay the sod down in strips like you're laying bricks. Make sure the edges are placed tightly together (to prevent drying) and that each consecutive row is staggered to prevent water run-off and slipping (shown). It's also a good idea to kneel and walk on plywood while working with sod so you do not disturb the pieces already laid.

If any gaps appear in the joints (there usually are some), it is best to fill them up as quickly as possible with potting soil to prevent moisture from escaping. Thoroughly water each piece of sod once the area is laid. This is a critical step in helping the sod overcome transplant shock resulting from harvesting only a small layer of the root system.

Once all your sod is down and trimmed,you will need to roll over it with a lawn roller to smooth out the rough spots and eliminate any gaps between the sod and soil. Plan on watering your newly sodded lawn daily (mornings preferably) for the next 6 weeks until firmly established. It's important that when watered, the lawn gets saturated. After a few weeks, the grass roots in the sod should start growing into the soil.

More information on sodding from Purdue's Turf-grass Science program.

Imagine you’ve been busy working all day and haven’t had a chance to eat. When you finally get to the door of your favorite restaurant, you pull the handle only to find that the door is locked. Through the window you can see the staff busily preparing food, but try as you might, you are unable to get anyone's attention. It’s easy to imagine how frustrated you’d be.

Surprisingly, your lawn and garden may be facing this same desperate situation. If the pH level in your soil is either too high (alkaline) or too low (acidic), then the nutrients that your lawn or garden desperately need could be present in the soil but unable to be absorbed by the plant’s root system. As it turns out, getting your soil’s pH right is the key, so to speak, to the restaurant’s door.

What is pH?

Soil pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of your soil. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 with the lower numbers (0-6) representing more acidic soil and the upper numbers (8-14) more alkaline or base soil. Balanced or neutral soil has a pH in the middle (7). The pH scale is logarithmic, where every change in 1 on the scale equals a change of 10 times in magnitude of the acidity level. For example, if your soil has a pH of 6 and your neighbor’s has a pH of 7, then your soil is 10 times more acidic than your neighbor's soil.

When a soil’s pH is either too high or too low, the grass or plants growth will suffer (see nutrient availability chart above). For example, Zoysia Grass (aka Zoysiagrass) thrives in slightly acidic soils with a pH of between 6.0 and 6.5. If the soil has a higher or lower pH, then the grass will be thin, pale and weed infested. If the homeowner is unaware of his/her soil’s pH but sees only a thin, weak stand of turf with weeds, they are likely to start chasing symptoms instead of dealing with the root cause of the problem.

For example, they might apply a fertilizer to spur growth and an herbicide to attack the weeds. They may even suspect insects or a fungus and apply fungicides or pesticides. All of these “treatments” are expensive and do little to remedy the root cause of the problem. Worse, they also kill millions of beneficial organisms which are vital for healthy soil, further weakening the lawn.

How To Test Soil pH:

Tool for Pulling Soil Samples

The first step to testing your soil's pH is to pull soil samples from your lawn or garden. The 5-IN-1 Landscape Plugger makes this part of the job quick and easy without requiring you to bend over. It pulls sample plugs from 2" to 6" deep and can pull up to a dozen before needing to be emptied.

Once you have your soil samples, you can test them yourself using a test kit available at local lawn & garden retailers. You can also have the samples tested by a professional testing service or your state agriculture extension service. They can test for pH as well as various major and trace minerals and organic content. The important thing is to get to know your soil, starting with its pH level. Understanding your soil, and what it needs, is the first step to take on the road to a healthy, lush lawn and a vibrant garden. 

How to Adjust Your Soil’s pH

Critical Steps:

• Find out what the optimal pH level is for your target grass or plant.
• Measure your soil’s pH, comparing it to the desired level.
• Adjust the pH up or down as needed (see below)

Balancing pH "The Great Neutralizer":

The most beneficial method for adjusting your soil’s pH is adding organic material, such as compost, to your soil every year. This method can be used to bring both acidic and alkaline soils to a balanced pH level, while increasing microbial life and improving the structure of your soil.

Raising Soil pH:

Raising pH quickly can be accomplished by adding a lime to the lawn. Pelletized Limestone is relatively fast acting, easy to handle and readily available at lawn and garden centers. Make sure you follow label directions carefully.

Lowering soil pH:

Lowering pH is a slower and more challenging process. Again, the best method is to consistently add organic matter to you soil. Another method used to lower the soil pH is to add sulfur to the soil which, over time, is changed by soil bacteria into sulfuric acid. It is important to remember that both methods require considerable time to effect the desired change, but  only organic material, added to your soil, simultaneously increases the overall health of the soil.